by Gin Hollan
"No one said you have to come with me," she said in a neutral tone, a skill she'd learned while married. Hiding her emotions had helped her evade Matthew's anger. She knew now that he used anger to push her away, to keep her from learning his lewd secrets.
"I'm no coward. You know that," Sam said.
"Neither am I."
Wait, why was she going all the way to Betsy's to finish these, when it was faster and simpler to use her own ready-made space? She stopped. Now she added a third item to her list—she needed one to hide in Clement's lab … or maybe his house. That would be appropriate, considering he’d taken advantage of her in her home. The parts did snap together easily. The five minutes it took to do that may feel like eternity, but Clement was either long gone using the subterranean trains, or around the city still. Pulling off her boots, Arabeth went back to her lab, not noticing Sam's confused look.
"I need five minutes. Maybe ten," she said, closing the lab behind her and Marble.
Walking to the table, she pulled the parts for the last device out of her bag again and examined each one, pondering how to make them tamper-proof. Easy, she thought. Glue them heavily in place, but only on one side. That way, anyone pulling the parts out would shred them. Glue remover would melt the wire casing.
Snapping the sections of the first one together, she was already thinking several steps ahead. What if she designed one to hide in plain sight? Clement liked to collect things. She'd hide this last one inside an item she'd given him years ago, and the perfect thing had already come to mind. When she was about twelve, she had a small wooden duck whistle that he’d taken a shine to. She hadn't really wanted to part with it, but he liked it. A lot. This device could easily slip inside and still be exposed enough to get good sound, she hoped. Obviously, voices closer to it would come through better.
It was too bad there was no way to make a permanent voice recording with a device this small… that she knew of. Her world in the small coastal city was starting to feel small. Tinkers were everywhere. What if someone had already invented listening devices that could store the voices as well?
She packed the finished devices in her bag and walked to the lab door. She could finish the last one later, once she had time to properly examine it for changes or improvements.
"Sorry for the wait. Let's go." She smiled at Hicks. He was sitting, hunched over at the kitchen table, reading a newspaper.
He startled a bit when she spoke and he turned. "Did you read this yet?" He held the paper up.
She shook her head. "Not yet. Why?"
He scratched his forehead. "You're not going to like this." He held it out for her.
The headline read, "Peace Through Invasion?"
"They're speculating we're ripe for a takeover by a third country. We've been at war for ten years—both countries are weakened," he said.
"Do you suppose that's why things feel like they're escalating again?" she wondered. "The goal is to get us to surrender. That's where the Maddening Device comes in."
He paused, adjusting his glasses. "It makes sense. What do you propose?"
"I've been trying to find their equipment and sabotage it. That's far too small a plan, apparently." She could feel the solution on the edge of her thinking, but thanks to the gas she was still slower than she liked. "The devices need to be put in spots where someone can hear the plan and report it. That's why it's important these get to my mother."
"That means Clement stealing one of them is too little, too late, on their part. Our plan is ready to be put into motion. They still have to figure your devices out."
"They aren't that complex, but you're right. We have a slight advantage."
She quickly pulled up her boots and did up her waistcoat, grateful she had someone to talk this out with.
"Clement is on his own now. Let's get these into the right hands." She smiled. The moment she said it, the words she'd been trying to recall came back to her. "Graham's calibrator," she muttered. "That's what everyone seems to be after."
"Pardon?" Sam asked.
"Let my parents know. I have a meeting I'm late for."
"I'll stick with you," he said. "You could be walking into a hazard."
"It's a meeting. How dangerous could it be? I am a bail enforcement agent, you know," she said, hoping her smile reassured him. "And I can't be in two places at once."
Sam stood, probably weighing his choices and her current tractability, she thought.
"Fine," he finally said. "I assume you're going to see Graham. I'll head to his house afterwards. You wait there so we don't miss each other's path."
She patted him on the arm. "You worry too much."
He scowled as she turned to hail a cab.
"He hovers a lot lately," she muttered. Too much.
At the north end of the city, Arabeth climbed out of the cab and turned for the mountain. Vic had said Graham was inside it, working on a top-secret project for the wrong side, believing he worked for the lesser of evils. That information was only half right, because he also said Graham was a captive, of sorts.
It was a few kilometres out of town, but she was used to travelling long distances. She broke into an easy trot. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to conceal the entrance.
The cab driver refused to take her further than the city edge, forcing Arabeth to walk. Marble jumped down, looked around, then sat, waiting to see what Arabeth was doing next. The mountain would be a half-hour hike from there. It would be better to sneak up on it anyway. Surely there would be guards at the entrance.
When she neared, there was a small group, arguing. They couldn’t be guards, so what were they doing out here? Arabeth sighed, waiting for the spat to end. They would know where the trigger was that would open the side of the mountain. Since she needed to get inside, she’d watch to see how they got in.
As the argument stretched on, Arabeth slipped into the trees and worked her way forward to hear what was causing all that debate. When she drew close enough, she could tell Melanie was one of the people. She refused to react to that, though. She would deal with Melanie later.
"I'm not going back in there. You brought this on yourself," Melanie said.
“And here I thought you were loyal."
For a moment Arabeth thought Melanie was going to punch the man.
"I'll keep your secrets, but you’d better leave me alone, or that will change." Melanie stepped back and gave a mock salute before turning away.
No doubt she knew her life would be shortened by the boldness of her behaviour. Grudgingly, Arabeth had to admire how Melanie defended herself anyway, even at the risk of her life. Still, that didn't change her opinion of her so-called friend. She would not accept betrayal in any form. Hiding, she waited until the group dispersed. Her one and only goal was to get inside this mountain.
The entrance was trickier than she expected. There needed to be two people to open it—one to hold a lever down, and another to push the hidden door open. The entire wall moved. There were more ways in, but she wanted to be quick and unseen. Opening the large exit would work against that.
How could she do this as only one person, though? Melanie was gone, and wouldn't be likely to go in anyway. Maybe Arabeth would have to come back with help. Maybe Hicks. She slapped the trunk of the tree she was hiding behind. No. She'd have to find someone she could trust. That was an increasingly short list.
But wait. She was a gadgeteer first. Surely she could find a way to keep a lever in place. She nodded to herself. She could do this. Testing the lever, she found it was exceedingly hard to hold in place. The handle was large; it took both hands to move it and hold it.
She opened her satchel and rummaged through for a minute. There was a long stretch of leather. She could tie that around the handle with one end and secure it to a tree. Looking up, she realized it wouldn't be long enough to reach a tree, or any other leashable object. The lever had to go up; otherwise she'd weight it with a rock. Wedging a rock or other firm object might stay in place
long enough to push the thick stone door open.
A stroke of luck. That was what she needed right now. Laughing softly to herself, she looked around for a wedge that would hold up to the stress of holding the lever. Luck. Arabeth had that, sure, but not the good kind.
She searched farther and farther from the entrance, still finding nothing sturdy enough. Wooden wedges slipped at unexpected times or crumbled as pressure grew, and the area was oddly free of stones. Marble circled nearby, performing her own search for something, at once comfortable and happy out here in the woods.
Stopping, Arabeth opened her satchel, wondering if there was something she would be willing to sacrifice to the job. Surely being crushed between a weight and a lever would be the end of something as delicate as the devices she made. Then again, technical sensitivity didn't mean a lack of durability.
She snapped at herself. What was her problem? Was she stalling? Maybe. Probably. There was no doubt she was heading into the unknown and she had no team to back her up.
Adhesive. She needed an adhesive. If her purpose was to get inside and get Graham's help, gluing the entrance open would be a definite step toward that. Rummaging through her satchel, she was certain she had something that would work.
Getting nowhere, she pulled her bag off and dumped it on the ground. Marble nosed at the contents, curiously spreading everything out. Immediately the tube of adhesive stood out, shining in the mess she'd made. She snatched it up and tucked it into a pocket, then returned everything else to the satchel. She took a second to rub Marble's head.
"Maybe you should wait out here. I have only a vague idea of what's inside, and I could be completely wrong," Arabeth suggested.
Marble pushed against her hand, wanting her ears scratched. Arabeth smiled. She'd wanted to embrace and increase her independence, but this was a bit much. Still, how hard could it be?
// Chapter 30 //
The adhesive needed a while to dry, giving Arabeth too much time to think. To over-think. She had to get moving, before her nerves overwhelmed her. In the half-dark of the moonlight, she couldn't see far.
Lost in thought, a tap on her shoulder made her duck, turn, and hold her hands defensively in front of herself.
Melanie looked surprised. "It's just me."
"What are you doing here?" Arabeth looked at the lever. The adhesive seemed to be holding.
"I work here," Melanie said, hands on her hips. "What are you doing here?"
"What do you mean, work here?" She held a hand up to stop Melanie from explaining. "Wait, I don't think I want to hear about it. Can you get me in?"
"Are you here to join the gadgeteers?"
"I just need to see Graham."
"Oh, good. The guy that runs this place is a little ... unhinged."
She turned and pushed against the stone door. As they stepped into near darkness, they waited for their eyes to adjust. It was quiet, more so than she expected. Perhaps because it was so late in the day. Distant voices and the odd bootfall was all she heard. Sound carried well in here. She lightened her step, hoping Melanie would do the same.
The entrance gave way to a long, dim, wide cavern with unfinished walls and a moderately damp smell. The initial area was no higher than twenty feet, but she could see that quickly went up farther along. Small lanterns hung at hundred-foot intervals, but not all were lit. As they walked farther inside, the light decreased and navigating became more challenging. It would be hard to hide with this lighting.
"Take the next turn going right. Head toward an area with cloth panels, just a bit too tall to see over. From above, it's patterned like rose petals. At least, that's how I imagine it. Follow the wall on your left as you go counter-clockwise and you'll get to the middle," Melanie whispered.
A noise ahead stopped her. "Guard?"
"If we’re lucky, yes. Tanner Stein if we’re unlucky. He’s the boss here," Melanie whispered back. "Let me go first."
"Is it okay for you to be here at this time of day?"
Melanie held a finger up to quiet Arabeth. "Just follow me, and act natural if we're spotted."
Arabeth wished, not for the first time, that Marble's device would work as radar. The technology for a small portable radar device had yet to be developed, though.
She should redesign a radar screen to be pocket-sized. If it could detect body heat, that would be good, too. That was a little far-fetched, but if she’d thought of it, others would too, making it inevitable. She may as well be the one to develop it.
Melanie halted and held her hand up to stop Arabeth. "Are you sure we need to do this?"
“I need to. You could go.” Arabeth waited.
Shaking her head in resignation, Melanie wove through the cloth partitions. A moment later the partitions opened up to reveal a wide, round room, with maps on walls and tables alike. There, at the centre of the panels, it was dead silent.
"We can talk now," Melanie said.
"When did you start working here? Why have I never heard of this place? I thought you were an intern somewhere." Arabeth held her other questions, but one that was becoming profoundly irritating was that everyone around her had a massive secret of some kind. Why was she the only one with an ordinary life? In fact, her life seemed to be an open book.
"I was fooled into joining this so-called 'resistance.'" Melanie's expression dropped. "A friend said she could get me work on a project in the private sector and said it paid really well. The only catch was the privacy requirement. Everyone has to sign a do-not-disclose contract, in order to protect the work. I'm one of the cleaning ladies."
"They're using the 'war resistance' angle to get workers? That's almost brilliant."
"Well, they're apparently too busy to take out their own trash, or disinfect toilets—let's not forget that part of the job. Lucky me."
"You do this, plus work at the police station?"
"Wait—did you know Harbertrope offered me my position back?" Her eyes narrowed, then she shrugged. "I’m quitting this one. I found out they’re the ones who tampered with my brain, and I’ve been using this cleaning job to find proof."
Melanie reached under the edge of a desk and pulled on a strip of tape.
"Here. This is something you'll want." She held out a two-inch flat metal disk.
"Is that a coin?" Arabeth walked over and took it. It was three centimetres across, three millimetres thick, perfectly round, silver, and heavy. An image was stamped into both sides, like a coin. One side had a flower with five large petals. The image on the other side was a standing Egyptian cat wearing a collar.
"It's what we carry to prove we work here, so to speak. I'd almost forgotten I'd taped this one here, in case I lost mine. Before I decided to quit." She suddenly looked sad. "My mind is not what it was, and even then, it wasn't great. I feel like an idiot most of the time."
"I'll need a story to go with the token," Arabeth said.
"That's easy. New gadgeteers show up now and then, when an old one blows themselves up or quits. It's the token that matters." Melanie pulled one out of an interior jacket pocket, holding it up between her thumb and forefinger. "I would have turned it in, but Stein refused to let me quit."
A large explosion shook the cavern, causing fragments of stone and dirt to rain from above. Covering Marble with her jacket panel, Arabeth held her breath a moment until the dust cleared. Caverns, especially new ones, could crumble silently from above, surprising those suddenly buried by it.
"That was them—the gadgeteers." Melanie pointed farther back into the cave.
Arabeth nodded. "Is that common?"
Melanie nodded. "It’s a good thing you came now. The way they're going, one of their devices will blow the entire cavern apart soon." Melanie snickered as she walked out of the control area.
Somewhere behind them a dog barked. Just once. Something in Melanie's posture changed, but she didn't slow or stop. If anything, she sped up.
// Chapter 31 //
The maze to the gadgeteer's area was pure
ly functional, designed to suppress sound - specifically explosions. As they came up on the centre, Melanie stayed back and waved Arabeth in. Arabeth was accustomed to other people treating her this way, but not Melanie. She stopped and frowned at her friend.
Melanie shrugged and waved her forward. "I'm not well-liked in there. I accidentally tossed out something that didn't look like a contraption in the making. Several parts were irreplaceable, and irretrievable."
Standing in the entrance, Arabeth cleared her throat.
Turning, Graham frowned then approached her to quickly clasp her hand in greeting. "Arabeth, my friend, what brings you into this dismal place?" He caught sight of Melanie and frowned. "Come in. Meet the others."
"Thank you, Graham," she smiled, walking in.
He must have noted her confusion. He leaned close. "Are you here to get us out, or has Stein trapped you, too?"
"I came to see if you'd loan out your Calibrator for a day or three," Arabeth tried to keep her tone light.
"Ah, well, you should take it and go. I’m not going to be here much longer, anyway.”
“What does that mean?”
He moved close enough to whisper. “I’m going to blow this place up in about...” he looked at his watch, “eighteen minutes. You need to leave, now.”
“What’s going on here?” she whispered back.
“They’re planning an invasion, but they don’t want to rule Blastborn. They want to destroy it.” He let that sink in before continuing. “I have charges placed that will close this cavern forever.”
A flurry of footfalls proceeded someone running into the area, skidding to a stop, and looking around. Graham and Arabeth took a step apart, looking to see who the new arrival was.
“Samuel Hicks?” Graham sputtered. “Are you lost?”
Sam spotted Arabeth and hurried over, taking hold of her arm. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“Vic Dane sent me to get him,” she explained, remembering her cover story.